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Competitive Ecology
Summary: The study group spends the night trying to decide their lab partners while Chang investigates a conspiracy. Plot Professor Kane tells his biology students that their lab partners for their new terrarium project and for the rest of the semester will be the people sitting across from them. The members of the group realize that the people they sit across from are unknown to them. The group enters Professor Kane's office and requests that they be able to partner up with each other. Professor Kane grants their appeal, and the group goes to tell their partners why they can’t be with them. Afterwards, the group tries to figure out how they’re going to divide each other up. Pierce, of course, is left out, partnering with apparently easygoing Todd. Meanwhile, Chang meets with Sgt. Nunez and tells him that he’s ready to be a real detective. Sgt. Nunez tells Chang that he has only been there a month and has barely done anything. After this conversation, Chang delves into a hysterical film noir-like montage in which he resolves to solve any crime at Greendale. Over lunch, Annie realizes Jeff isn't listening to her at all. Troy and Abed are initially excited to be lab partners (along with being roommates and study group members) but also recognize the fact that they may be spending too much time together. Meanwhile, Shirley is getting on Britta’s nerves by showing her numerous pictures of her children. In an attempt to get away from their respective partners, Britta and Troy find each other outside and realize that they want to partner up; the rest of the group finds out that they’re thinking of changing partners as well. They meet in the study room to decide on a fair way to split up – Troy suggests the boy/girl/boy/girl scenario, while Shirley suggests they go by age. Annie finally puts her foot down, saying that they need to decide, so they can get their projects done. Jeff proposes that they make a list of names with a preferred order of who they would like to work with. Back in Chang’s film noir fantasy, he finds a matchbook in the bathroom and tries to figure out who might have left it there. After a few phone calls, he attempts to solve the crime by putting together a crude evidence board that will help him solve his case. His work backfires when a ball of yarn catches fire, essentially destroying his room and all of his work. Dean Pelton, learning that there’s been a fire, comes to check out the situation. When Sgt. Nunez tells him that someone's been squatting in the utility closet, and that they need to call the authorities, the dean ends up backing Chang’s conspiracy theory story to avoid police involvement. Upset with the dean's actions, Sgt. Nunez quits his position, leaving the dean to promote Chang as the new Head of Security. In the study room, the group has used Jeff’s suggestion to determine their pairings, leaving Troy with Britta, Annie with S hirley, Todd with Jeff, and Abed with Pierce. Abed makes the mistake of explaining that his algorithm put the least popular and most popular people together, which leads to the group fighting about who is more popular and more liked within their social circle. Annie says that Shirley is too religious; Shirley says Britta won’t dissect anything with heads; and Annie says that people don’t want to academically carry Jeff all year. Todd tries to leave, citing his newborn as an excuse, but Jeff won’t let him until they’ve decided something. When Britta lights the results list on fire and almost kills Todd’s turtle, Todd finally loses it. “What is wrong with you people? I thought you were supposed to be friends! I thought you were supposed to love each other! But your love is toxic—it destroys everything it touches!” He then storms out, saying "Offense taken," in a departure from his earlier "None taken" responses to every insult/apology previously tossed at him by the members of the group. The next day, the group shows up to class without their terrariums as a result of not being able to resolve their issues (Annie does actually complete hers, causing Jeff to label her as pathological.) Troy says that their ideas didn’t work out, and Jeff concludes that they just have to work with their original lab partners. Professor Kane calls them “the mean clique,” saying that Todd called him crying about the way he was treated. This seems to sober the group up enough to realize their mistakes. However, they later blame Todd for all their problems and make fun of him, not realizing that he is listening from an adjacent table. End tag The tag for the episode is the study group filling out practice evaluations for Britta’s psychology class, where all she can see is awkward male organs instead of penciled-in bubbles. Recurring themes Continuity: *'Returning Faculty: 'Professor Kane returns this episode as the group's Biology Teacher. *'First Appearance: 'Todd makes his first appearance as the kind former soldier taking Biology with the group. The janitor known as Crazy Schmidt makes his debut as well. *'That just happened: 'Troy and Abed having moved in together as of Biology 101, and realize as roommates, best friends and lab partners, they spend too much time together. *'Previously': When asking for new lab partners the group references a few plotlines from previous episodes including "the space bus", "paintball", and "second paintball." *'Discontinuity': Pierce claims to have had sex with Eartha Kitt, a reference to one of the recurring plot points from Remedial Chaos Theory, an episode which was produced before Competitive Ecology but aired one week later. *'Middle Eastern Magic 8 Ball': During his numerous narrative voice-overs Chang repeatedly questions his own sanity, foreshadowing his growing break with reality throughout the season. Running gags: *'Aww!': The group responds to Shirley's baby pictures and then to Annie's ignorance of Nick Nolte. *'Man crush': Dean Pelton mistakes Jeff's simple question, "What are you doing?" for a come-on, stating his availability after lunch. *'Annie's boobs': Jeff describes Annie as "a good grade in a tight sweater." *'WWBJD': Shirley gets pedantic while commenting on science versus religion. Everyone groans. *'Gasp': Annie gasps when Professor Kane calls them "the mean clique." Biggest laugh of the night: Annie faints and falls off her chair with a loud thud when she fails the first major lab assignment. Meta references: *'Use Your Allusion': Chang's detective fantasy is an homage of film noir and detective films. *'Up against the wall': **The entire class groans when Professor Kane assigns a diorama for Biology homework. Greendale students were assigned 20 dioramas for Anthropology 101 alone. **When assigned lab partners for the semester, everyone in the study group is initially teamed up with somebody outside the group leading to many awkward stares. Troy quietly asks, "Who are these people?" This is a nod to the fact that everything that happens at Greendale revolves around the study group members. **The group requests to be lab partnered up amongst themselves and Britta explains, "It's kind of a thing, we've been through a lot," laying out the premise of the show. Kane responds that he has "so many conversations that make no sense." **Troy and Abed suddenly notice how much time they spend together. **Abed assigns lab partners according to optimal audience appeal. The rest of the group then discusses their relative popularity. **Annie wonders who Jeff is always texting since everyone he knows is already there. **Jeff interrupts a group argument and Troy immediately assumes that Jeff will heal the group with another Winger Speech. **Todd scolds the group with a diatribe about the dysfunctional nature of the study group. *'Everyone's a critic': Jeff states that Abed is a computer. Abed agrees. Many viewers and critics find Abed's character unrelatable. Pop culture references: *'Shout-Out': **Troy mentions Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. **Eartha Kitt. Yes, Pierce, we heard you. An airplane bathroom. **Though not mentioned out loud, Chang hangs a picture of Larry Bird while trying to unravel the mystery of the Arizona Matchbook Company. **Chang wonders what would happen if Jack Nicholson was a gynecologist. *'Product Placement': **Professor Kane wants to know what happened with Legos. **Jeff isn't a fan of Ben Sherman's winter collection, unlike three of his twitter followers. *'IMDB': Professor Kane mentions Harry Potter and Star Wars. *'TV Guide': Troy breaks up with his lab parter, claiming he wants to catch up on Breaking Bad. Quotes Images Competitive Ecology 1.jpeg Competitive Ecology 2.jpeg Competitive Ecology 3.jpeg Competitive Ecology 4.jpeg Competitive Ecology 5.jpeg Competitive Ecology 6.jpeg Competitive Ecology 7.jpeg Category:Season 3 Episodes Category:Community Episodes